Question: Are some souls more beautiful than others?

Sri Chinmoy: Those souls that have manifested more than other souls are more beautiful than the other souls. Every soul has light, but how many souls are manifesting it? If they are manifesting, they are more beautiful than if they are not. We appreciate something in somebody else which is worth achieving or worth becoming. So some souls are more beautiful because they have manifested more or are manifesting more than other souls. Naturally they will be more beautiful to humanity and Mother Earth, because they are offering something divine to humanity.

When a flower is fully blossomed we appreciate it. When it is only a tiny bud we can't appreciate it as much. When somebody is just learning something, his wisdom won't be appreciated as much as the wisdom of someone who already knows quite a lot. The more light you manifest, the more your beauty is appreciated. And this appreciation is nothing but a further manifestation of beauty.

Again, some souls care more for light, some souls care more for power and some care more for peace. The souls that care for light and delight will be more beautiful, because they are trying to spread beauty in its chosen forms.

There are some souls that want to manifest power or peace or some other quality. In these souls we will not be immediately struck by a sense of beauty. They do have tremendous beauty in their highest manifestation, but it is not seen as easily as their more predominant, or you can say more manifested, qualities are seen. Peace and power are also beauty. But when we see light in something, most often we feel that that is beauty. When we see a flower we will say the flower is beautiful. Or we will often feel that a child is beautiful. But if we see a huge tree or the vast ocean, immediately we will say it is big or vast or majestic; the word “beauty” does not come to our minds. When we think of the flowers and fruits, we may say the tree is beautiful; but we do not appreciate the beauty of the tree as such. Like that, when we see light or delight in something, immediately we say it is beautiful.